


gears and cogs

by elfdaughter (hopper)



Category: The Legend of Korra - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-04
Updated: 2012-06-04
Packaged: 2018-01-13 15:35:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1231822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopper/pseuds/elfdaughter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mako has reservations about his new team member.</p>
            </blockquote>





	gears and cogs

Korra had to leave in a hurry once she realized that Tenzin had headed back to Air Temple Island without her.

"I’ve got to apologize to Master Tenzin, and then I’ve got some explaining to do now that I’m officially a part of the team!"

The exuberant Avatar-turned-pro-bender disappeared into the waves of the Yue Bay, leaving Mako to put away her discarded uniform. Hasook’s discarded uniform. The captain of the Fire Ferrets winced. He would need to contact Butakha about getting the Avatar fitted for her own uniform first thing in the morning.

The corridor winding around the back of the stadium facing the bay was deserted but far from silent. Mako could easily detect the distinct ring of the bell which signaled the end of a round accompanied by a swell in the roar of the crowd. Bolin was absent from the locker room, but he had left a note explaining his whereabouts. ("Taking Pabu out for a walk and then a celebratory bowl of noodles! Meet you at Narook’s?") Mako changed out of his uniform, neatly folding and putting it away, slipping Bolin’s note into one pocket. He bundled up Hasook’s gear and reached for the door to his locker. A shadow from the hallway fell across the floor of the locker room.

"Hey, Hasook…?" Mako wasn’t sure if it was doubt or guilt which prevented him from turning around. It must have been guilt, said a small voice in his head, or why else would he automatically assume that it would be the Fire Ferrets’ decommissioned waterbender showing up after everyone else had gone. It could just as well have been the Avatar for all he knew. Maybe she’d forgotten something.

"Excuse me. Were you expecting Hasook?"

Not Hasook. And most definitely not Avatar Korra.

The captain of the Wolfbats, arms folded and one sharp shoulder pressed against the jamb, stood regarding Mako from the doorway.

"Tahno."

"Mako." The Wolfbat’s head dipped in acknowledgment. The smile on his face - whatever it meant - Mako knew he didn’t like it.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, cautiously setting down Hasook’s gear on the bench.

"Well, I don’t know if you were aware but the Wolfbats had a match to win tonight."

"I know why you guys are at the arena, I’m asking what you," Mako crossed the room in three long strides and jabbed a finger toward the opponent waterbender’s chest, "are doing here.”

Tahno’s eyes flickered to the hand between them and back up to meet Mako’s glare. “I was only passing by,” he drawled, “when the heavy waves of emotion coming from the Fire Ferrets’ locker room flagged me down. Thought I’d pop in and see how you amateurs were coping. How are you coping…Captain?” His disconcertingly pale eyes crinkled in mock concern. “It’s not every day a pro-bender walks out on his teammates.”

"Yeah, and it’s not every day the Avatar steps up to take his place. We’re coping fine. More than fine. Take your bleeding heart elsewhere, Tahno.”

The waterbender tsked, shaking his head with feigned disappointment. “Hasn’t Hasook been with the Fire Ferrets since the start of the season? To lose him literally on the doorsteps of the tournament… You almost had a personal record there, Mako. Last year was especially pathetic. I honestly can’t recall seeing a pro-bender voluntarily take a dive in order to leave in the middle of a match.” Mako hoped that he was just feigning. The very idea that Tahno would dare to be genuinely disappointed in him made Mako’s stomach turn.

"What’s it to you?" Mako demanded, voice turned quiet with rage.

"Nothing, quite frankly. I don’t expect to see your sad excuse for a team make it to the finals this year either." Tahno’s grin was as thin and wide as a snake’s mouth.

"You listen to me - "

"No. You listen to me." The speed with which Tahno’s grin vanished was unnerving. "That was a very pretty hat trick you pulled last night, Mako. Are you going to pull one off every night? Take every face-off that falls to your team? Think you can make it out of the final sixteen by the skin of your teeth, Captain?”

"I will if I have to!"

"Isn’t that something. You’re incredible." What Mako had mistaken for mock concern and feigned disappointment before now bared its true face, and it was dripping with acrid disdain.

Tahno abruptly stepped in so close to Mako that their noses bumped and Mako reflexively shoved the waterbender back hard enough that he stumbled a few steps into the hallway. Mako was breathing through his nose. His shoulders rose and fell visibly with the effort it took to remain calm. Tahno was laughing.

"I would love to know how Hasook got to you so bad, Mako. He was a damn good waterbender, and that’s something coming from me. You guys had to have rubbed each other really wrong for you to chase him out after last night’s victory."

"A narrow victory." Mako turned on his heel, going to retrieve Hasook’s uniform and put it back in the locker.

Tahno continued taunting him to his back. “Listen to yourself. How do you not hate yourself? You’re repulsive. That attitude makes me want to gag.”

"Is that all you got? Petty insults?" Mako slammed the locker shut.

"I came here to crush your dreams, Mako," Tahno announced without so much as a shred of self-consciousness, "because what they are are petty delusions. You and the Fire Ferrets don’t have what it takes to win. The sooner you realize that, the better."

"Are you so threatened by my team that you have to personally come by and persuade me to quit?" Mako shot back.

"Threatened? Please. Tell me why I would be afraid."

"You’re nothing but bluster, Tahno. A captain only in name. You let Ming and Shaozu take every face-off. Your team carries you. I carry my team."

"Are you half-blind?" Tahno hissed, "or just stupid? The Wolfbats are a well-oiled machine. When we’re in the ring, one of us doesn’t so much as inhale without another drawing breath in the same beat. We are each other’s own limbs. When we win, we win together. And that’s why we always win.”

"Yeah, well, don’t start celebrating yet. Just be ready to defend your title against my team in the finals."

"Your team, Mako? You think the Fire Ferrets are a team? You have a brother and an Avatar. That’s not a team."

Mako shoved past the Wolfbat’s waterbender in the doorway. “Then tell me, what’s a team?” he demanded.

"You need to ask?" Tahno’s mocking voice followed him. "Let me tell you. With Hasook, you almost had one. Until you fucked up."

The Wolfbat’s derisive laughter faded into the distance as Mako took the stairs down two at a time.

 

Bolin wondered what took Mako so long to get to Narook’s, but he was in high enough spirits and sufficiently distracted by seaweed noodles that he didn’t care to press the question. For his part, Mako was able to find his good mood again fairly easily, bolstered by the knowledge that they had made it to the finals.

Tonight, he was allowed to feel invincible, Mako reasoned with himself as he found it hard to fall asleep later on back at their apartment. He hoisted himself up onto the windowsill and blinked against the sea breeze. The Fire Ferrets had a winning streak so far throughout the season, and now on top of that, they had the Avatar on their side. Korra had turned out to be a natural after all.

  

_"You’re a natural."_

"Heh… thanks, I guess?" The young man from the Water Tribe mopped sopping hair out of his face, wincing as he inadvertently brushed raw red scrapes. "Not like I was much use in a fight."

"Hey, don’t beat yourself up. Those thugs had you outnumbered." Mako held his hand out. "I’m Mako, by the way."

"Thanks for the hand, Mako. I’m Hasook."

"Nice to meet you, Hasook. Say, ever tag teamed with a firebender and an earthbender?"

Hasook pulled back. “Wait. You’re not a recruiter for the Triple Threat Triad, are you? That’s not why you helped me beat off those Red Monsoons!”

"No! No, no, no, you got it all wrong. I’m not a gangster, I’m a pro-bender. Captain of the Fire Ferrets. But we need a waterbender to compete this year. Just now, don’t you think we made a great team?"

"Yeah…I guess." Suddenly bashful, Hasook looked young. He was younger than he’d appeared at first, Mako realized. Maybe even Bolin’s age, only much taller and with a face like a cynic.

"You should come to practice tomorrow morning, see if it works out?"

"Yeah, I…" Hasook raised his eyes, unhunched his shoulders. "I’d love that, actually. I’m always saving up for pro-bending tickets…never thought I’d get the chance to play."

"This is your chance. Don’t sell yourself short."

  

Mako reached out and pulled the windows shut before he could let himself wonder what had befallen the waterbender. The triads would probably recruit him. No matter. That was his choice. Not Mako’s fault. Hasook had made his decision when he made it clear that he didn’t want to win. They weren’t here to play a game. Mako padded silently past his sleeping brother on his way to bed. In pro-bending, no one was indispensable until they proved themselves. He would have to make sure the Avatar knew that as well. Mako recalled Korra’s uninhibited enthusiasm for pro-bending with a little wariness. At this point, the last thing the Fire Ferrets needed was another Hasook.


End file.
